VIDEOS: High water levels in Erie Canal locks keep boaters in Waterford

Dan Engelhaupt of New Bern, N.C., cleans his boat, "Happy Ours" while it is tied up in Waterford Harbor. Engelhaupt and his wife, Kris, are among 50 boaters who are stranded in Waterford until high water levels in a series of Erie Canal locks subside. (J.S.Carras / The Record)

Boats are backed up at the entrance to Erie Canal Lock 2 at the Waterford Harbor, Wednesday. Rising water levels and today's rainy forecast prompted officials to close Erie Canal Locks 6 through 19, between Crescent and Frankfort. (Mike McMahon / The Record)

WATERFORD -- There are nearly 50 westward-heading boats that are unable to move further along in the Erie Canal and are now stranded in Waterford.

Harbormaster Richard Hurst estimated that there were about 20 docked near the Waterford Harbor Visitors Center and at least another 20 or so within the Waterford Flight of Locks.

Today, he stated, a decision would be made based on the weather to either allow the boats through the flight or to have them all take refuge in the state Canal Corporation's boat storage area between Locks 2 and 4 if it rains more and the level of the water rises. This could occur if it rains to the north and west of the Capital District.

"They're predicting that it could go six inches over our wall," Hurst said of the Lock 2 docks. "I've told all the boaters to be ready to move into the flight [today], depending on the weather."

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By Wednesday evening, he said the water level - at around 20 feet - had gone down about a foot since that morning.

"If we had to be stranded, this is probably the best place for it to happen," said Kris Engelhaupt of North Carolina. She has been boating up the eastern coast with her husband since early May in the Happy Ours. She said they were hoping to be in the Syracuse area before high school graduation season but considering their current status and their usual pace of about 24 miles each day, she was not sure that was going to happen. "We're OK with that. We're going with the flow. A few days of being delayed during a multi-month trip is not so bad."

Waterford businesses have seen a boost in activity from the concentrated amount of tourists. Many boaters said they were using this opportunity in one place to do chores like grocery shopping, laundry in downtown, and to clean their boat.

"We're truly thinking of supporting these local businesses," added Engelhaupt who has been frequenting Don and Paul's for breakfast and McGreivey's for lunch.

Joann Wahl and her husband, of East Aurora, went out to lunch with a friend to take their minds off the fact that they had been docked in Waterford for four days and were not sure if they'd make it back by next Thursday, which was their plan.

"It takes about five days to get back due to the limited canal hours," she said just outside their boat Wayward.

Larry and Anne, a couple from Michigan who did not want to give their last names, said they had been in Waterford for two days and the water level had risen about five feet in that time period.

"We're happy to support the local economy in the meantime," said Anne, who was towards the end of a nearly year-long trip through the great loop from the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi, across the Gulf Coast, up the East Coast, up the Hudson River, and through the Erie Canal. "People have been very nice."

Canal corporation spokesperson Shane Mahar said on Wednesday that it was hard to say when the canal locks would be reopened. As of Wednesday evening, Locks 6 through 19 were closed as a precaution.

Among the vessels stranded was the Lois McClure schooner which was originally scheduled to be in Little Falls on Saturday.